UFC 111 MMA Preview
By Stan Lisowski
Headlining the card Saturday night is Georges St. Pierre, arguably one of the very best fighters in the world today. He is installed as an almost 8:1 favorite over British bad-boy Dan Hardy. St. Pierre 's last fight was a clinic, near to perfection, as he dismantled Thiago Alves. Alves had a reputation of being impossible to take down and GSP imposed his will throughout the bout in a dramatic and most dominating fashion as he won a one-sided decision. No one at 170 pounds can come close to St. Pierre 's skill set and he has not been in danger nor really challenged in any of his fights since his loss to Matt Serra. That defeat has made the Canadian obsessive about his preparations for his opponents. St Pierre acknowledges that Hardy is the best striker and has the best hands he has faced, so despite the long odds, GSP is not taking this opponent lightly. Hardy will look to keep this fight on his feet, and try to do damage via strikes. But given St. Pierre 's wrestling abilities and Hardy's takedown defense, which is not a strength of the Nottingham England native, those opportunities will be severely limited. PICK: RUSH ST. PIERRE
On the undercard are the aforementioned Thiago Alves facing Jon Fitch in another welterweight bout, and for the interim heavyweight title, former champ Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin.
Carwin comes into this encounter having 11 wins in less than 1 round. Five of his victories have been won in less than a minute as this powerful puncher is a heavy hitter. That brawling style normally spells trouble for Mir. However, the lack of true cage time could be problematic for Carwin as he has never been in a professional bout that has lasted beyond the 3 minute mark. Mir comes into this fight appearing in great shape and has takedown and submission skills that could also be issues for Carwin. In a contrast of styles, where both fighters ' strengths match each others weaknesses, the veteran Mir should have a slight advantage as Carwin may not have a defense for his takedowns. PICK: MIR
Looking to bounce back off of his loss to St. Pierre , Alves will also be looking for revenge against Fitch from their bout back in 2006 when Fitch stopped him by TKO. After being thoroughly man-handled in that last fight, look for the ever-improving Alves to come back strong against the rugged wrestler Fitch. Fitch, while a polished grappler, does not posses the type of knockout power to make Alves leery of anything but his wrestling. PICK: ALVES